LONDON — Frustrated by the high price of antiviral drugs, thousands of patients from London to Moscow to Sydney are turning to a new wave of online “buyers clubs” to get cheap generic medicines to cure hepatitis C and protect against HIV infection.
While regulators warn that buying drugs online is risky, scientific data presented at a recent medical conference suggest that treatment arranged through buyers clubs can be just as effective as that obtained through conventional channels.

By Dana Blankenhorn: Gilead (GILD) has a big winner in Truvada. It's already generating $2.4 billion in annual sales as a partial treatment for HIV, combining two existing anti-virals, tenofovir disoproxil and emtricitabine, and has been on the market since 2004.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), the undisputed leader in the HCV drugs market, is now set to establish a firm foothold in the global HIV drug market too, by tapping into new high-growth opportunities. The biotech giant earned a significant victory yesterday in the form of an approval from the European Commission for its blockbuster HIV drug, Truvada. The approval would allow the drug’s use in combination with safer-sex practices to minimize the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection.

Bret Jensen submits:Company Overview: Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD), a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of life threatening diseases worldwide.